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mali

Mali proper noun · noun · Mali noun
SayMAH-lee/ˈmɑli/UK/ˈmɑːli/

Noun pluralmalis, Malis

5 meanings of mali

Practice

  1. 1
    proper noun · Mali
    A country in West Africa whose full name is the Republic of Mali.

    My aunt works as a nurse in Mali.

    The Niger River runs through Mali.

  2. 2
    nounIndiaSouth Asiacountable
    A person from a South Asian caste whose old family job is gardening, or any gardener there.

    The mali waters the roses in the compound every morning.

    Grandma asked the mali to plant tomatoes and beans near the kitchen door.

    Similargardener

    Note
  3. 3
    nounSouth Africauncountable
    Money, especially the cash you have to spend.

    Eish, I can't come to the braai, I've got no mali this week.

    He needs mali for the taxi home.

    Similarmoney, cash

    Note
  4. 4
    noun · MalidialectalMulticultural London Englishcountable
    A Somali person, from Somalia or with a Somali family.

    Her mum's a Mali, so she speaks Somali at home.

    Two Malis from our school are on the football team.

    SimilarSomali

    Note

Less common meaning

  1. 5
    noun
    Plural of malus. It is rare and used mostly in insurance writing, for penalties.
    The existence of boni and mali for the different risks can be interpreted through the sign of estimated covariances.
    c. 1997, ASTIN Bulletin

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Origins

Meaning 2

From a Hindi word meaning "gardener", which goes back to a Sanskrit word for a garland.

Meaning 3

From the Xhosa and Zulu word imali, meaning "money", which goes back through Swahili to an Arabic word for wealth.

Meaning 1

Named after the old Mali Empire, whose name may mean "hippopotamus".

Meaning 4

A short form of Somali.